The present invention relates to the general field of vehicle safety accessories and is particularly concerned with a vehicle""s back-up range guide.
The problems associated with blind spots while moving a vehicle in reverse have long been recognized. There have been repeated accidents associated with vehicles backing up involving personal injury and damage to property. Indeed, for nearly every licensed driver, it is known that positioning a vehicle while backing up requires considerable accuracy to avoid any damage to the surrounding areas or to the vehicle. For instance, the bumpers, fenders or grilles may easily be damaged by contact with a stationary rear wall particularly those which constitute projections or barriers which are ordinarily obscured from the driver""s line of sight.
While it is difficult for the drivers of any vehicles to evaluate the distance between the rear of the vehicle and a rearwardly positioned obstacle, the problem is further compounded when backing up material hauling vehicles such as vans, semitrailers and other types of trucks used for transporting goods to a loading dock. The problem is compounded by the long length of the truck which increases the possibility that either or both the and the loading dock will be damaged.
Some documents found in the prior art address these types of problems. Indeed, the prior art has proposed technical aid to improve vision to the rear by short range obstacle or target detection and distance measurement devices. Some of these devices have been developed in recent years and introduced into the market. These devices generally fall into three categories. The first category involves obstacle systems using image sensors, infrared light, video or laser devices. A second category includes conductivity measurement systems and a third category involves ultrasound systems. Most of these so called relatively high-tech solutions, although offering many advantages, have proven to be costly and, hence, have not obtained commercial success.
Other types of systems using mechanical components have been proposed. However, those mechanically activated devices typically include a large number of operative components which are subject to mechanical breakdown. Moreover, they often require judgment and interpretation on the part of the driver. Another main drawback associated with both high-tech and mechanical devices relates to the fact that they are not always reliable and thus gives a false sense of security to the driver which may be considered worst than having no indicator device at all.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved back-up range guide for vehicles. Advantages of the present invention include the fact that the proposed back-up range guide for vehicles in accordance with the present invention allows the driver of a vehicle such as a truck who is backing up towards an obstacle such as a loading dock to conveniently and accurately determine, just by looking into the rear view mirror and without the assistance of additional personnel, the spacing between the back end of the truck and the loading dock as he or she backs towards the dock.
It is an object of this invention to allow continuous monitoring of the decreasing spacing between the back end of the truck and the loading dock, the proposed back-up range guide for vehicles in accordance with the present invention, reduces the risk of injury to occupants of the vehicle as well as people standing by and also reduces the risk of damage to both to the vehicle and the surrounding structures.
It is a further object of this invention to allow the driver to position the rear end of the truck at a suitable distance from a loading dock to facilitate ingress and egress of both goods and personnel between the truck and the loading dock without requiring increased operations.
It is yet another object of this invention to be retrofittable to most conventional vehicles. It is still another object of this invention to be fully reliable without requiring elaborate maintenance.
It is a final object of this invention to be manufacturable using conventional forms of manufacturing with relatively simple mechanical components thus providing a back-up range guide for vehicles that is economically feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.
To accomplish this, back-up range guide for vehicles is comprised of an abutting arm and a spacing arm both set at a larger than perpendicular angle relative to each other and with the spacing arm situated on a lateral side of the truck while the abutting arm is situated at the backside of the vehicle. Thus as the vehicle closes in on an object, generally a building where there is a loading dock, the abutting arm, which has a distal end projecting substantially away from the vehicle, makes contact with the said object and is pushed towards the said vehicle. This automatically moves the spacing arm outwardly. By looking at the rearview mirror, the driver can clearly see the spacing arm moving progressively away from the side of the vehicle as it closes in on the object. This visual aid is further enhanced by the use of light emitting means and/or reflector. Additionally, a biasing means repositions the indicator back to its original configuration as the vehicle moves away from the object.